The novelist George R. R. Martin, who inspired the HBO series Game of Thrones, has tested positive for COVID-19 following an appearance at the San Diego Comic-con.
San Diego Comic-Con is the place to be every year if you want to immerse yourself in popular culture and find out all the news first regarding your favorite fandoms.
Held last weekend, there were plenty of Q & A panels for fans to check out as well as public meet and greets and signings from various celebrities and authors.
Among the line-up was author George R. R. Martin, who is currently helping to promote HBO’s upcoming TV series based on his book, Fire and Blood.
House of the Dragon is set to premiere next month and San Diego Comic-Con was the perfect place to showcase the new series.
Martin announced he would be attending via his blog. However, after Covid-19 cases started rising, the author, who is 73 years old, decided to scale back his appearances at SDCC.
Initially set to attend both the House of the Dragon Q & A panel as well as a signing event, the celebrity decided to forego the public appearance with fans, opting to only appear during the panel in order to restrict his chances of contracting Covid-19.
George R.R. Martin limited appearances to keep safe
While deciding to attend San Diego Comic-Con amid the rising Covid-19 cases, the author chose his appearances very carefully in order to avoid contracting the virus, which can be quite serious among people aged over the age of 70.
By attending only the House of the Dragon panel, he limited how many people he came into contact with.
“With Covid raging,” the author said during a vlog post to his website.
“I decided to be very cautious and conservative. I did the panel, and that was a lot of fun … but I skipped all of the parties. I did not go on the convention floor and I canceled my in-person autographing.”
He did, however, end up going out to get a few meals during the convention.
George R. R. Martin tests positive to Covid-19
Martin’s attendance at San Diego Comic-Con was to be the first part of a longer publicity stint. Heading from Comic-Con, he then traveled to Los Angeles for the next leg of his journey.
With a slew of meetings and two premieres to attend, among other things, the author was anticipating this next part.
However, after his arrival in Los Angeles, Martin immediately tested positive for Covid-19.
“The first day in Los Angeles, yesterday, I woke up and tested positive for Covid,” Martin said in the video post that was shared on Raya Golden’s YouTube channel.
During the video post, the author appeared to be quite well, albeit a little pale. At times he did have a slight cough, but at the moment, the author seems to be coping quite well with the illness.
Martin noted that he was surprised to have tested positive as he only had the mildest of symptoms that carried through into the second day of Covid-19. However, after repeated testing, the author continued to test positive.
It remains a mystery to Martin as to how he contracted the illness as everyone surrounding him is currently still testing negative.
Everyone here at Monsters and Critics wishes George a speedy recovery and fans can watch the author’s full video blog below.
George R. R. Martin is the author of the A Song of Ice and Fire series on which Game of Thrones is based. The spinoff series, House of the Dragon, will premiere on August 21 on HBO Max.